Garment

ABSTRACT

A child&#39;s garment with sleeves and/or legs as well as with external regions of enhanced frictional coefficient on at least some of the areas which may be used in locomotion other than walking as for example romping.

[0001] This invention relates to garments and in particular to garmentsfor children.

[0002] Children who have not let learned to walk, or who still finddifficulty in walking, will resort to other manners of locomotion,especially crawling.

[0003] It would be desirable to provide a garment which encourages orfacilitates crawling or other ways of getting across a floor surface,for example, thereby encouraging exercise and development of motorskills.

[0004] The present invention provides a garment with external regions ofenhanced frictional coefficient on at least some of the areas which maybe used in locomotion other than walking.

[0005] Such regions (referred to as anti-slip regions) may be providedon underarm areas, elbow areas, buttock areas, underleg areas, kneeareas, and/or shin areas, in particular.

[0006] The anti-slip regions may be formed by printing a suitableanti-slip material, such as a gel, on the appropriate area. The materialmay be printed as a pattern, e.g. a decorative pattern, and/or as afigurative design (representing animals, fishes, birds, or insects, forexample). In particular the anti-slip regions may occupy shapesrepresenting hands, to indicate to a parent or child-minder where bestto hold the child.

[0007] The garment may be a single-piece or two-piece garment. It maycover the upper and/or lower body, arms and/or legs. In particular, thegarment may be a romper, a one-piece suit, a singlet romper, or pants,for example.

[0008] In another aspect the invention provides a garment for a child,the garment bearing external indicia (e.g. representing hands) whichindicate optimum positions for placing one's hands in order to hold orsteady the child.

[0009] In another aspect the invention provides a garment for coveringthe body of a baby, the garment having pleats or gathers allowing roomfor a nappy (diaper).

[0010] The invention will be described further, by way of example only,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a front view of a romper;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a rear view of the romper;

[0013]FIG. 3 is a front view of a baby suit.

[0014]FIG. 4 is a rear view of the baby suit;

[0015]FIG. 5 is a front view of a singlet romper;

[0016]FIG. 6 is a front view of the singlet romper;

[0017]FIG. 7 is a front view of another singlet romper;

[0018]FIG. 8 is a rear view of the singlet romper of FIG. 7.

[0019]FIG. 9 is a front view of a pair of pants;

[0020]FIG. 10 is a rear view of the pair of pants;

[0021]FIG. 11 is a further view of another romper,

[0022]FIG. 12 is a rear view of the romper of FIG. 11;

[0023]FIG. 13 is a front view of another romper;

[0024]FIG. 14 is a rear view of the romper of FIG. 13;

[0025]FIG. 15 is a front view of another romper; and

[0026]FIG. 16 is a rear view of the romper of FIG. 15.

[0027] The romper 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is constructed as a singlepiece suit of knitted material (cotton, wool, synthetic yarn) forexample, which buttons up the front, covers the body of a baby, toddler,or small child, and has sleeves 2. Anti-slip regions 3 of enhancedfrictional coefficient are provided on the outside of underarm areas (orelbow areas) of the sleeves 2. Each anti-slip region 3 comprises apattern of spots of anti-slip material (such as a known gel used foranti-slip socks) which may be applied by a printing process. Theanti-slip regions 3 help the child to exert traction by means of itsarms, thereby stimulating crawling and facilitating the development ofmotor skills.

[0028] Pleats or gathers 4 in lower body or waist areas allow room for anappy.

[0029] The whole-body suit 11 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has sleeves 12 andleg portions 13. The suit 11 is similar to the romper 1 and again hasanti-slip regions 3 on the underarm areas and pleats/gathers 4 in waistareas. In addition the garment has printed anti-slip regions 14 on theknee (or shin) areas of the leg portions 13. These regions 14 are shapedso as to represent hands, and they give an indication of where best tohold the child in order to steady it when it is attempting to walk.

[0030] The singlet romper 16 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has no sleeves andhas leg portions 17 in which the knee areas are again provided with theabove-described anti-slip regions 14.

[0031] The singlet romper 18 of FIGS. 7 and 8 has the above-describedanti-slip regions 14 at knee-shin areas of the leg portions 19.

[0032] The pants 21 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 have the above-describedanti-slip regions 14 at knee-shin areas of the leg portions 22. Thepants 21 of course cover only the lower body and legs of the child.

[0033] The romper 23 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 has short sleeves and nolegs.

[0034] The above-mentioned pleats/gathers 4 are provided in waist areasto allow room for a nappy. In the buttocks area 24 anti-slip regions 26are printed to represent fishes. The anti-slip regions 26 increasefriction between the buttocks area 24 and the floor, protect againstslipping (e.g. from a chair), and stimulate crawling.

[0035] The romper 27 shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 again has pleats/gathers 4to allow room for a nappy. Hand-shapes 28 are printed on the back of thegarment as indicia to indicate where best to hold a baby when picking itup.

[0036] The romper 29 shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 again has pleats/gather 4to allow room for a nappy. The words “Pat Pat” are printed on the upperarea of the back of the garment to indicate where best to pat a baby toencourage it to burp after feeding.

[0037] It will be appreciate that selected features of the garmentsdescribed above may be used in combination in any particular garment.The invention is not limited to the garment styles specificallyillustrated.

1. A child's garment having sleeves and/or legs, the sleeves and/or legshaving external regions of enhanced frictional coefficient,characterised in that the sleeves and/or legs have external regions ofenhanced frictional coefficient on areas which are intermediate theelbows and the wrists and/or intermediate the knees and soles and whichare used in crawling.
 2. A child's garment as claimed in claim 1, havingexternal regions of enhanced frictional coefficent on under-forearmareas and/or shin areas as areas which are used in crawling.
 3. Achild's garment as claimed in claim 1 or 2, including external regionsof enhanced frictional coefficient on elbow areas of the sleeves.
 4. Achild's garment as claimed in any preceding claim, including externalregions of enhanced frictional coefficient on knee areas of the legs. 5.A child's garment as claimed in any preceding claim, including externalregions of enhanced frictional coefficient on underleg areas of thelegs.
 6. A child's garment as claimed in any preceding claim, includingan external region of enhanced frictional coefficent on a seat area. 7.A child's garment as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the saidregions comprise friction-enhancing material printed on the said areas.8. A child's garment as claimed in claim 7, in which the said material,in at least one area, constitutes a figurative design.
 9. A child'sgarment as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the garment bearsprinted representations of hands indicating optimum positions forholding or steadying the child.
 10. A child's garment as claimed in anyprcceding claim, including pleats or gathers allowing room for a nappy.